September 3, 1915.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

475

TRADE AND THE WAR.

Export Licences: Memorandum from the War Trade Depart-
ment: Criticisms from the Tyne: the Black List:
Exports to Holland—Timber Deck Loads—Swiss Import
Trusts—Metropolitan Munitions Committee—Board of
Trade Warning to Coal Consumers—Chilean Coal for
Peru — Enemy Debts: Government Delay — Railway
Coal for France—Tyneside Steel Committee—Trade with
Russia—Scientific and Industrial Research.

In a memorandum prepared for holders of export licences
the War Trade Department state that a licence for a single
shipment is valid for three weeks from the date of shipment
mentioned thereon, and for a further three weeks if a
satisfactory explanation is given to the local collector of
Customs and Excise as to the reasons for non-shipment
during the first three weeks. The licence should accompany
the goods when shipped, and care should be taken to ensure
that the licence is not taken with a vessel on which the
goods are not shipped. The whole of the goods must be
shipped from one port and usually in one vessel. If it is
desired to make further shipments after the expiry of the
specified period, a fresh application should be made towards
the date of expiry. As to licences generally, applications
for amendments will only be considered where satisfactory
reasons are given. A licence may be revoked if at any time
there may be circumstances rendering this course necessary;
and the grant of a licence does not in any way relieve an
exporter of his personal responsibility for taking all possible
steps to ensure that the goods (a) do not, directly or
indirectly, reach enemy territory, and (b) are not used in
the production of other goods for export to such territory.
The following statutory requirements must be complied
with : (a) Where a licence to export any goods authorises
the exportation thereof to a particular person or place or to
a particular person at a particular place named in the
licence, the name of the person or place, or both, as the
case may be, must be inserted in all invoices, bills of lading,
manifests, and other documents relating to the goods, (b)
The goods may only be delivered to the person or persons
to whom they are consigned in any case in which provision
to this effect is made by proclamation, (c) The exporter
may be required by the Commissioners of Customs and
Excise to produce evidence to their satisfaction that goods
have not reached a destination in any territory which under
any proclamation issued by his Majesty dealing with trading
with the enemy for the time being in force, is or is treated
as enemy country.

At Wednesday’s meeting of the Council of the Newcastle
Chamber of Commerce, the secretary, Mr. Herbert Shaw,
criticised the administration of the War Trade Department,
and gave the following instance of its inefficiency :—On
July 6, a Newcastle firm made application for a licence. On
the 7th, the application was acknowledged, but nothing
further was heard of it until July 24, when the War Trade
Department asked for a guarantee as to the consignee, and
also whether the consignment had the approval of the neutral
Minister in London. On August 3 the guarantee was sent,
and nothing further was heard until the 19th, when the
firm put in another application, the second repeating all the
particulars contained in the first and, in addition, the actual
name of the boat in which it was proposed to ship the
cargo. That was acknowledged on the 20th, and, on
August 21, the War Trade Department wrote a long letter
asking for the same information which had been sought on
July 24, and had been sent to them on August 3. They
had, therefore, had this information in their possession
three weeks. The business was not yet transacted. Mr.
Shaw declared that there were thousands of reply-paid wires
lying unanswered at the War Trade Department, which
was good for the revenue, but bad for those who sent them.

At the same meeting, Mr. Shaw mentioned one source
of grievance arising out of the operation of the black list.
Cases had occurred of firms loading a ship with coal, and
not being informed, until the vessel sought clearance, that
the consignee had been put on the black list. The advisory
committee had suggested that a firm of repute should be
notified by wire of the black-listing of a consignee, so that
loading operations might be stopped. When that could not be
done, it was the committee’s opinion that there was a fair
case for compensation, but whether the Government would
go so far as that, Mr. Shaw was not prepared to say.
Shippers should remember, however, that licences were
valid for six weeks and, if that were borne in mind, it
might relieve the difficulty to some extent. In reply to a
question, Mr. Shaw said that a trader could not see the
black list, but if he enquired from the Customs authorities
whether a firm was so dealt with, he would be informed.
The committee had been trying to get an extension of the
general licences for contracts that had been granted in the
case of the Italian and French State Railways, but, although
the committee had gone behind those two railways to some
extent, the time was not yet ripe for a general extension
to cover all contracts.

It is stated that a correspondent of the Amsterdam
Telegraaf has interviewed Mr. Runciman concerning the
Dutch coal question. Mr. Runciman is said to have
expressed his heartiest sympathy with Holland, and
declared that if the Dutch Coal Bureau wanted to create a
monopoly in regard to imported coal it would be difficult for
England to grant licences for the export of coal to Holland.
It would be preferable, Mr. Runciman said, if the Dutch
Oversea Trust would make itself responsible for the import
of coal into Holland. He added : “ It is England’s aim to
deliver as much coal as possible to Holland for her own
consumption.”

Lord Joicey, addressing Newcastle business men on
’Change on Tuesday, uttered some very trenchant criticisms
of the powers that be, in the matter of our trade relations
with Holland. He averred that he believed that the com-
mercial community could solve present difficulties better than
could any other organisation—and, in the latter category,
he included the Foreign Office and the Board of Trade. The
strained relations which at present existed between the
business men of this country and of Holland ought not to
exist, he said. They arose largely from the red tape which
existed in our departmental authorities. “If,” he said,
“ they would only delegate their authority to some com-
mercial men in this district, we would certainly see these
difficulties and unpleasantnesses removed. We have done
business for many years in Holland, and are likely to
continue to do business for many years hereafter. We ought
to try to remove difficulties which create ill-feeling.” He
went on to remark that he was very glad to see that Mr.
Runciman, President of the Board of Trade, had stated,
the other day, that England was anxious to send as much
coal to Holland as possible, for Holland’s own consumption.
If that were true, he could not understand why the difficulties

in the way of securing licences were so great. His view of
Government interference was that they always muddled
whenever they meddled. He hoped their Dutch friends
would realise that, whatever might be the action of the
Government at this time, the feeling of commercial men of
the North of England towards Holland was as good as ever
it was, and that, if restraints and difficulties continued, the
Government and not the business community was to blame.

The Ministry of Munitions has forwarded to all controlled
establishments in the United Kingdom a set of rules for the
guidance of the employers and the men. . The rules lay down
that every person employed in the establishment shall attend
regularly and work diligently during working hours, and also
if required put- in a reasonable amount of overtime, including
week-end work, unless holidays or sickness intervenes. There
is to be no insistence of the observing of any rule, practice,
or custom tending to restrict the rate of production, and
various regulations are made under the heading of sobriety
and good order. Breach of any of the rules involves a fine,
on conviction before the Munitions Tribunal, of not exceeding
£3 for each offence.

On the subject of timber deck loads, the Chamber of
Shipping of the United Kingdom has received a notice from
the Board of Trade, stating that they will not institute pro-
ceedings under section 10 of the Merchant Shipping Act,
1906, against the masters or owners of vessels arriving in
the United Kingdom between October 31 and November 15
next, or between March 30 and April 16, 1916, with deck
cargoes of light or heavy wood goods carried under other
conditions than those allowed by that section. It is, however,
to be understood that the responsibility of master and ship
owners for ensuring the safe and proper loading of the vessels
in which such cargoes are carried remains unaffected by this
concession.

A large number of Swiss manufacturers and wholesale
houses are forming private import trusts in various centres
which will give the guarantees demanded by the Allies that
none of the goods they are permitted to receive will reach
Germany and Austria. Such trusts have already been
organised in Geneva, Zurich, St. Gall, and Basel.

The organisation of the Metropolitan Munitions Com-
mittee is now practically complete. A central office has been
established at Alexandra House, Kings way, with Mr. Cecil
Partridge as general manager, and Mr. Ireland as chief
engineer, with a competent staff and commodious premises.
The following gentlemen have been appointed as managers
in the districts indicated :—Northern : A. Hugh Seabrook
(acting), 62, Finsbury-pavement, E.C. (temporary address).
North-western : E. T. Ruthven Murray, 346, High-road,
Kilburn, N.W. Southern : A. C. C. Lamb, Town Hall,
Croydon. South-eastern : W. G. Head, Borough Hall,
Royal-hill, Greenwich, S.E. South-western : C. 0.
Grimshaw, 6, Ecclest on-place, S.W. E-astern : C. Newton
Russell, 215-17, Bishopsgate, E.C. East central and part
south-eastern: E. Harlow, 64, Bankside, S.E. Western:
R. S. Downe, Carnegie Library, Hammersmith, W. Poplar
and Stepney : G. M. Gill, East London College, Mile End,
E. (temporary address). Outer eastern : S. H. Wood, Gas
Works, Beckton. Any information likely to be of use in
connection with the production of munitions, and all
enquiries, offers of premises, of tools, plant, or services,
etc., should be directed to the General Manager, Metropolitan
Munitions Committee, Alexandra House, Kings way, or to one
of the district managers.

The Board of Trade have issued a circular to London
coal merchants pointing out that in order to keep the pits
fully at work and to reduce the demands on railway and
cartage facilities as much as possible during the winter,
every effort should be made to increase their stocks of coal
to the maximum. It is equally necessary (says the Board
of Trade) that householders should make full use of all
their available storage accommodation. In normal years
the retail price of coal rises in the winter, and there is
therefore an inducement to lay in coal during the summer.
This year conditions have been altered by the Price of
Coal (Limitation) Act, but it is hoped the public will never-
theless realise it is in the general interest that they should
take their supplies as early as possible. Those who can
store coal should do so now in order that later on the
available resources may be used to supply those who have
no storage space at their disposal.

The Nederland Steamship Company intended some of its
own vessels recently sent to the United States to import coal
for their steamers. The first instalment of this coal has
arrived, being brought from Norfolk, Va., by the steamer
“ Banda.”

In a communication from the Peruvian Consul-General in
Valparaiso to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Lima the
possibility of importing Chilean coal into Peru to replace
the Australian .and Welsh coal that heretofore has formed
the principal supply is taken up in some detail. The Consul-
General states that the Chilean article is equal in calorific
qualities to the coal now in use, and that the supply is
practically inexhaustible, it being possible to augment the
present production of 1,000,000 tons a year whenever there
is a demand. The communication gives the quotations on
Chilean coal on April 8, f.o.b. Lota or Coronel at 22s. to
24s. the ton. Freight rates to Mollendo and points north
are quoted at 15s. to 16s. This would give a minimum of
37s. and maximum of 40s. delivered at Peruvian ports, but
the Consul-General states that contract prices could be
arranged at a much lower figure. At that time Welsh and
Australian coal was quoted at 39s. to 40s. in Peru, but the .
price has since risen rapidly.

The unfortunate position of traders having debts due to
them by enemy firms is the subject of a letter which The
Times has received from Mr. J. W. Eason, the Mayor of
Grimsby. He restates the case of the firms who are
seriously embarrassed by being deprived of the use of their
capital, and contrasts it with the happy position of traders
who are placed in the enjoyment of money which they owe
to enemy firms, and which does not properly belong to them.
Many months ago a more or less representative body inter-
viewed the then Chancellor of the Exchequer with the object
of seeing whether something could not be done by the
Government to meet the situation. Something was done,
but Mr. Eason says that he has not yet met anyone who
was satisfied that it was adequate to the necessity of the
case. He suggests that now that the Treasury has floated
its War Loan it might find time to deal with the question of
settling these debts by establishing a clearing house for
enemy debits and credits in this country. It would, says
The Times, be a delicate task, but the Treasury might
endeavour to devise a scheme in consultation with business
men to remove an evil which is a serious one to those mostly
concerned.

The Etat Railway has accomplished a splendid feat in
bringing coal to the most important State industries in France.
Evoking the Alliance, an emissary of the railway was able
to obtain two million tons of coal from the British Admiralty
on “ the most-favoured-nation ” terms. The Admiralty even
lent ships to convey the precious freight to France. The
whole of the consignment is now resting in France, the
major part in great stacks which have b^n formed at various
points. To these stocks come the military and naval
authorities who have need of the combustible for purposes of
national defence. After the munition factories come the gas
and electricity corporations and the municipalities. In con-
sequence of this provision a considerable diminution in the
price of coal is anticipated. The present figure to the private
consumer in Paris is as high as £4 a ton.

The Steel Committee, which, composed of Tyneside busi-
ness men, was recently established in Newcastle to deal with
applications for licences for the exportation of steel, has issued
its first report. The members are doing whatever they can in
the way of detecting alloys, and of ensuring that nothing
that the British Government wants kept out shall find its
way into Germany : Up to date, 78 licences have been
granted. One or two applications have been provisionally
declined, not necessarily because there is anything serious
connected with them, but because there are points needing
investigation. The fee has been fixed by the Admiralty at
£9 12s., which, the committee fears, is hardly sufficient to
cover expenses. Many of the licences have been issued on
the day on which the applications have been received—a
striking contrast to the methods of more rigidly official
committees.

The Daily Chronicle Petrograd correspondent has had an
interesting interview with Prince Shahovskoi, Russian
Minister of Commerce and Industry, in which the latter
points out the splendid opportunity now awaiting British
manufacturers to capture the vast industries hitherto in the
hands of the Germans. This war, he says, has dealt a crush-
ing blow to German trade in Russia, and has made clear the
necessity of establishing the Russian commercial system on a
new basis, in which the co-operation of England in the manu-
facture of goods not yet produced in Russia. Prince
Shahovskoi stated that there should be no difficulty in
England securing a very strong position in the Russian
market. The existence of considerable German industry just
over the eastern frontier involved serious drawbacks. Mills
and factories in the regions of Warsaw and Riga were now
being transferred to the interior. The existence of coal fields,
he continued, was not sufficient reason for the concentration
of Russian industry in the eastern area. There was coal and
ore in many other parts of Russia; their resources had as yet
been only faintly vitalised by industry. The Ural region,
in particular, was an inexhaustible mine of wealth. In
conclusion, he invited the hearty co-operation of the English
in the industrial sphere, and said that the opening of the
Dardanelles would mean a gravitation of Russian industry to
the Black Sea basin, or, in other words, away from Germany.

The Board of Education is losing no time in securing the
co-operation of the professional societies under its “ Scheme
for the organisation and development of scientific and indus-
trial research.” These institutions are being invited “ to
undertake the function of initiating proposals ” for specific
researches for the consideration of the advisory council
appointed under the scheme. Certain engineering societies
have already appointed research advisory committees, which
will meet Sir William M’Cormick, LL.D., the administrative
chairman of the council, to lay before him suggested schemes
of research. It is understood that the council has ample
funds at its disposal. The only adverse criticism that has
been made is that the members of the advisory council are
not sufficiently representative of industry. At least one of
the professional societies invited by the Board of Education
to initiate research proposals, has pointed out to the Board
this deficiency, at the same time offering to suggest one or
more names of persons considered to be representative of the
particular branch of engineering which comes within the
purview of that institution. An important clause under the
scheme is that which permits of proposals being made for
“ developing special departments of existing institutions for
the scientific study of problems affecting particular industries
and trades.” This would seem to cover such work as that
of the Alloys Research Committee of the Institution of
Mechanical Engineers, the Corrosion Committee of the Insti-
tute of Metals, and the Engineering Standards Committee.
Such work is very costly, and is a heavy drain on the
resources of the institutions responsible for its initiation and
conduct.

THE IRISH COAL TRADE.

Thursday, September 2.

Dublin.

Owing to the fine weather prevailing, the house coal trade
remains in a very quiet condition, and prices are unchanged
at the following:—Best Orrell, 34s. per ton; best Wigan,
32s.; best Whitehaven, 32s.; Pemberton Wigan, 31s.; kitchen
nuts, 30s.; best slack, 26s.; all less Is. per ton discount for
cash. Irish coal at Wolfhill Collieries, Queen’s County, is
25s. per ton for round coal; culm, from 3s. 4d. to 10s. per
ton; all at the pit mouth. Pit prices for Kilkenny (Castle-
comer) coal, outside of contract prices, are as follow :—Best-
small coal, 23s. 4d. per ton; best large, 21s. 8d.; second
quality, 20s.; bottom coal, 16s. 8d.; breakage, Ils. 8d.;
culm, 5s. to 8s. 6d. The coal vessels arriving in this port
during the past week amounted to 61, as compared with 78
the week previously, chiefly from Garston, Workington, Ayr,
Preston, Ardrossan, Point of Aire, Troon, Partington,
Glasgow, Cardiff, Newport, Irvine, Liverpool, Maryport,
Whitehaven, and Ellesmere Port. The total quantity of
coal discharged upon the quays was 25,500 tons, as against
32,000 tons the previous week.

Belfast.

There is no improvement so far in the coal trade, either
locally or in the inland districts, business generally being
rather dull. Prices of steam coals continue to be subject to
alteration from day to day. Current quotations for house-
hold coals are as follow:—Best Arley, 36s. per ton; Orrell
nuts, 35s.; Scotch house coal, 32s.; Orrell slack, 32s. per
ton delivered. Coal-laden vessels arriving during the week
were chiefly from Garston, Partington, Silloth, Ayr, Work-
ington, Glasgow, Ardrossan, Ellesmere Port, Irvine, Girvan,
Troon, Cardiff, Preston, and Neath Abbey. Large quanti-
ties of all classes of coal are now going into stock.